North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Swimmers Wrap Up Competition from FINA World Championships
8/1/2023 12:46:00 PM | Swimming
FUKUOKA, Japan – With the World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, ending, 10 Wolfpack swimmers representing seven countries competed in various events in the pool across eight days, seeing four medals in eight final appearances.
"We are proud of our student-athletes that competed in the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan," NC State head coach and Team USA coach Braden Holloway said. "It is always an honorable feat to represent your country, and to do it on the world stage is spectacular. We had many finals and semi-final performances throughout the week and set a few school records during our time in Japan. Our current student-athletes and a few alumni represented NC State well, as this competition was a great setup and learning experience as we head into an Olympic year."
Leading the way was Katharine Berkoff, who placed on the podium at the World Championships for the second straight year after taking home bronze in the women's 100 backstroke with a time of 58.25. Two days later, Berkoff finished fifth in the women's 50 backstroke with a time of 27.38.
Berkoff was a part of the mixed 4x100 medley relay team that took home a bronze medal. The Missoula, Montana native- had a 59.12 leadoff back split to help Team USA to a total time of 3:40.47.
Also taking home a medal for Team USA was NC State Swim alum Ryan Held who was a part of the men's 4x100 freestyle relay, which took home bronze in the event. Held led off the relay with a 48.16 split to help Team USA finish with a time of 3:10.81.
Closing out the World Championships was Justin Ress, who earned silver in the men's 50 backstroke with a time of 24.24. Ress had the fastest time of the semifinals in the event, clocking in at 24.23.
Representing the Netherlands was this year's ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award recipient Nyls Korstsanje. Korstsanje began the World Championships by finishing in fourth with Team Netherlands in the 4x100 medley relay final with a 50.67 fly split and a team time of 3:41.81.
In the men's 100 butterfly preliminary, Korstsanje hacked over half a second off his own Dutch record in the 100-meter butterfly, qualifying 2nd for the evening semifinals of the World Championships with a personal-best time of 50.78. The NC State standout took the race out two-tenths quicker than his previous Dutch record — the fastest first 50 in the field — and maintained his speed on the back half much better than last year.
Four-time NCAA champion in 2021, Sophie Hansson, represented Team Sweden and had a best finish in the women's 100 breaststroke final, where her time of 1:06.61 was good enough for seventh.
Personal bests were also broken in Fukuoka, with Andrea Podmanikova setting a new best and breaking her own national record in the process for Team Slovakia in the women's 50 breaststroke with a time of 31.43.
For Team Poland, Kacper Stokowski finished just outside the top 10 in the men's 50 backstroke preliminaries, but his time of 24.91 was a new personal best breaking his previous time of 24.98.
Stokowski now turns his focus to participating in the World University games for Poland alongside NC State teammates Kyle Posner (USA) and Giovanni Izzo (Italy).
RESULTS BY ATHLETE
USA
Katharine Berkoff
Women's 100 Backstroke:
Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay
Men's 800 Freestyle
Men's 4x100 Freestyle
Nyls Korstanje
Men's 50 Butterfly
Sophie Hansson
Women's 100 Breaststroke
Sirena Rowe
Women's 50 Butterfly
Kacper Stokowski
Men's 100 Backstroke
Slovakia
Andrea Podmanikova
Women's 100 Breaststroke
Andreas Vazaios
Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay
"We are proud of our student-athletes that competed in the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan," NC State head coach and Team USA coach Braden Holloway said. "It is always an honorable feat to represent your country, and to do it on the world stage is spectacular. We had many finals and semi-final performances throughout the week and set a few school records during our time in Japan. Our current student-athletes and a few alumni represented NC State well, as this competition was a great setup and learning experience as we head into an Olympic year."
Leading the way was Katharine Berkoff, who placed on the podium at the World Championships for the second straight year after taking home bronze in the women's 100 backstroke with a time of 58.25. Two days later, Berkoff finished fifth in the women's 50 backstroke with a time of 27.38.
Berkoff was a part of the mixed 4x100 medley relay team that took home a bronze medal. The Missoula, Montana native- had a 59.12 leadoff back split to help Team USA to a total time of 3:40.47.
Also taking home a medal for Team USA was NC State Swim alum Ryan Held who was a part of the men's 4x100 freestyle relay, which took home bronze in the event. Held led off the relay with a 48.16 split to help Team USA finish with a time of 3:10.81.
Closing out the World Championships was Justin Ress, who earned silver in the men's 50 backstroke with a time of 24.24. Ress had the fastest time of the semifinals in the event, clocking in at 24.23.
Representing the Netherlands was this year's ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award recipient Nyls Korstsanje. Korstsanje began the World Championships by finishing in fourth with Team Netherlands in the 4x100 medley relay final with a 50.67 fly split and a team time of 3:41.81.
In the men's 100 butterfly preliminary, Korstsanje hacked over half a second off his own Dutch record in the 100-meter butterfly, qualifying 2nd for the evening semifinals of the World Championships with a personal-best time of 50.78. The NC State standout took the race out two-tenths quicker than his previous Dutch record — the fastest first 50 in the field — and maintained his speed on the back half much better than last year.
Four-time NCAA champion in 2021, Sophie Hansson, represented Team Sweden and had a best finish in the women's 100 breaststroke final, where her time of 1:06.61 was good enough for seventh.
Personal bests were also broken in Fukuoka, with Andrea Podmanikova setting a new best and breaking her own national record in the process for Team Slovakia in the women's 50 breaststroke with a time of 31.43.
For Team Poland, Kacper Stokowski finished just outside the top 10 in the men's 50 backstroke preliminaries, but his time of 24.91 was a new personal best breaking his previous time of 24.98.
Stokowski now turns his focus to participating in the World University games for Poland alongside NC State teammates Kyle Posner (USA) and Giovanni Izzo (Italy).
RESULTS BY ATHLETE
USA
Katharine Berkoff
Women's 100 Backstroke:
- Prelims: Third Place - 59.04
- Semis: Third Place – 58.60
- Finals: Third place - 58.25
- Prelims: Third Place – 27.56
- Semis: Fourth Place – 27.49
- Finals: Fifth Place – 27.38
- Prelims: First Place - 59.12 leadoff back split, 3:40.47
Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay
- Finals: Third Place – 48.16 leadoff split, 3:10.81
- Prelims: Ninth Place – 21.91
- Swim off Semifinal – 21.68
- Finals: Fifth Place – 21.72
Men's 800 Freestyle
- Prelims: 19th – 7:54.23
Men's 4x100 Freestyle
- Prelims: First Place - 47.88 anchor split, 3:11.63
- Prelims: First Place– 24.18
- Semis: Frist Place- 24.35
- Finals: Second Place – 24.24
Nyls Korstanje
Men's 50 Butterfly
- Prelims: Eighth Place- 23.19
- Semi: 12th – 23.23
- Prelims: Third Place – 50.53 fly split, 3:40.47
- Final: Fourth Place – 50.67 fly split, 3:41.81
- Prelims: Second Place – 50.78 (PB) Dutch Record
- Semis: Fifth Place: 50.98
- Final: Fifth Place: 51.05
Sophie Hansson
Women's 100 Breaststroke
- Prelims: 12th – 1:06.69
- Semis: Sixth Place - 1:06.19
- Finals: Seventh Place - 1:06.61
- Prelims: 12th – 2:26.01
- Semis: 13th – 2:25.63
- Prelims: Eighth Place – 30.39
- Semis: Ninth Place – 30.40
Sirena Rowe
Women's 50 Butterfly
- Prelims: 33rd – 27.19
- Prelims: 38th – 25.79
Kacper Stokowski
Men's 100 Backstroke
- Prelims: 12th – 53.81
- Semis: 14th – 53.96
- Prelims: 10th – 24.91 (PB)
- Semis: 11th – 24.99
Slovakia
Andrea Podmanikova
Women's 100 Breaststroke
- Prelims: 34th– 1:09.39
- Prelims: 23rd 1:02.11 Fly Split, 4:01.69
- Prelims: 26th – 31.43 (PB) National Record
Andreas Vazaios
Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay
- Prelims: 15th – 49.17 leadoff split, 3:15.86
- Prelims: 38th – 53.38
- Prelims:18th – 1.59.72
Players Mentioned
Back/S Free
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D Free/IM/Back
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IM/Back/Free
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S Free
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Brst
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